How to self teach yourself to type 120 - 160WPM+ - fast
How to learn to type 120 - 160WPM+ rapidly and save yourself a lot of time in the long run
Published: 2015-04-09
In brief, it is as simple as this:
- Buy a BLANK keyboard. ~20$ from Amazon or eBay. Failing that, spray your keyboard with matt black (be careful, I did it to a laptop once and broke it)
Search amazon UK - no affiliate link
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Buy / download a "game" called Typing Of The Dead (yes, I am serious - believe me, it is not as fun as the arcade shooter)
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Practice drill for about 5 - 7 days. It may be longer or shorter than this. I think I did about 8 hours a day, TOTD is surprisingly addictive. Never look at the keyboard. If it's blank, it's of no use anyway. Make sure you have 1 in place, or you could be wasting your time. It's really hard not to cheat.
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Enforce a blank keyboard upon yourself whenever possible until you have it mastered. Don't relapse.
This may sound like a joke. But TOTD teachers you comprehensively and it is the only method I know that is fun. It even teaches you special characters like % + etc. without looking.
That's how I did it, anyway. I don't think I have a natural proclivity for typing, but I am diligent in pursuing a specific objective (especially numeric).
I think this method could work for many people, but it's pretty hardcore. Going from 60 - 80 to 100+ is a huge step in productivity - long term. I accept that many others (who may be quicker than I) have learned it other ways. But this way will work, and it's fun.
PS if you're a 2-3 finger typist (And I was until about 21 before I bought a blank keyboard), you know you are starting on a good road when you finally start to hit the q with your little finger and the ? key with both hands (left little finger, right little finger).
PPS I am typing this on a blank keyboard right now. For some reason, its kinda preferable. It's actually a layer of security, 'cause my mum couldn't log into my computer without putting another keyboard next to it while I read her out the password over the phone.